New Zealand’s Lewis Bower Wins First WorldTour Podium at Tour Down Under

## Lewis bower Reflects on Emotional Tour Down Under Podium Finish

Lewis bower (Groupama-FDJ) was thrilled with his third-place finish on Stage 3 of the Tour Down Under.

Bower, recently promoted to the WorldTour team last June after progressing through their progress squad, wasn’t initially designated as the team’s sprinter. Though, a late mechanical issue for Tom Donnenwirth thrust him into the sprinting role on Friday, and he delivered a strong performance, finishing behind only winner Sam welsford (Ineos Grenadiers) and stage 1 victor Tobias Lund Andresen (Decathlon CMA CGM).

“It’s just incredible,” Bower said. “After putting in so much hard work and sacrificing so much time away from my family and friends, it’s realy nice to see that all the efforts I’ve made to reach the worldtour are paying off. So to get a podium is super special and an emotional result for me.”

Bower, who has been racing in Europe as his teenage years, was especially pleased to have his family present to witness his success in Nairne.

Groupama-FDJ’s DS, Jussi Veikkanen, expressed his satisfaction with Bower’s performance. “Lewis is young, almost racing at home, and his family was here today. These are rare opportunities for a New Zealand rider to be able to perform in front of loved ones. This grate result will also give him a lot of confidence in his form, because it wasn’t an easy stage.”

The day also saw a strong showing from teammate Enzo paleni,who spent almost the entire 140km stage…